Thursday, 12 October 2017

William Notman 'Canada's most successful photographer'

*** This is a blogpost from a few years ago, but it came up again and I wanted to share it, especially as Mercy Coles writes of Notman and I write in more detail about him in Miss Confederation just published with Dundurn Press in June 2017.

On CBC Radio this eve (Oct 12, 2012) Part One on William Notman - famous photographer
of, among other things - the eighth wonder of the world, or the Victoria
Bridge in Montreal (for example), and the Fathers, and daughters, of Confederation.

From CBC Idea's website:
"He [Notman] arrived in Montreal in 1856 as a fugitive from the law. He
became Canada's most successful photographer. A rare combination of
canny businessman and master craftsman, William Notman embraced
the wondrous new medium of photography and left us a unique record of
Canada's social history. A portrait by Montreal writer Elaine Kalman Naves. ...

On the lam from the law, William Notman remade himself in Montreal. He
saw his chance and quickly mastered the brand new art of photography.
His timing couldn't have been better. Fascination with the astonishing
new medium was sweeping Europe and North America - never before had it
been possible to create a permanent image without an artist's pencil or
paintbrush or engraver's tools. Eventually, William Notman would own
the largest photography business in North America ... "

And to the 'Daughters' of Confederation:

Mercy Coles, who I wrote about last fall at this time (here and about weekly through November 2011) and used in my novel To the Edge of the Sea,
was the charming, beautiful and unmarried 26 year old daughter of
Prince Edward Island delegate and Father of Confederation George Coles.
She kept a diary of her trip to Quebec for the Confederation conference
of 1864 and subsequent tour of the Canadas. Their first stop after the
conference was Montreal. There she writes of her visit to William
Notman's studio to have her photograph taken.

Saturday October 29, 1864 continued:

“
... Ma and I have just been to the Convent Congregation Notre Dame. Mr.
McDonald (stutterer) came and took Mamma and I. I have just come from
Notman’s. My photograph was not good I don’t think, so I would not take
it however the man said he would send me two dozen to the Island. ...”

The CBC link has good pictures and a link to the McCord Museum in
Montreal which has a phenomenal collection of pictures, videos and
information on Notman and his work, (regardless of what Mercy Coles
thought of her photo).
UPDATE Oct 12, 2017 - this is a link to an article by Elaine Kalman Naves on her website - great and informative piece here

Tuesday, 29 August 2017

Miss Confederationwas published by Dundurn Press
in late June so it's (she's?) out already. As the 49th Shelf points
out, this is the story of Canada, as it talks of Confederation, from the
very rarely heard, woman's point of view.
"In Miss Confederation
(June), Anne McDonald, through the diaries of Mercy Anne Coles, takes
readers through the social whirlwind of Canada’s confederation from a
(rarely depicted!) woman’s point of view."
Mercy Coles' story is both a depiction of Canada as it was in 1864, and
also of the creation of a self-identity of a young woman at a pivotal
time in both Canada's history and that of the United States. Of course, the whole story of Confederation and Canada's 150 right now is a whole mixture of ideas and emotions. It is incredibly important that we hear what Mercy Coles had to say about it all at the time - primary documents are crucial to our understanding of the past.

There are many more great non-fiction books the 49th Shelf has profiled here. Ones I'm particularly looking forward to include, (from the end of their post to the beginning):
- b/c I love comedy and irreverence, and a female point of view - "What I Think Happened (October),
the debut book by comedian Evany Rosen, is really two books: a
no-holds-barred romp through the history of the western world, and the
personal story of a self-described "failed academic" who recasts
historiography from a feminist perspective—albeit an underqualified and
overconfident one."
-b/c I love food and who on the Prairies could turn their nose up at the mention of Hawkins Cheezies "Janis Thiessen’s Snacks: A Canadian Food History
(September) chronicles the history of Canadian snacks including Old
Dutch Potato Chips, Hawkins Cheezies, and Ganong, and unwraps a social
history of junk food."
-b/c yep, I want to figure out how to make Canada work "Graham Steele, whose What I Learned About Politics was nominated
for the 2015 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, returns with
a new insiders’ guide to Canadian politics, The Effective Citizen: How to Make Politicians Work For You (September)."
-b/c the stories help create change which is so desperately needed - "In Seven Fallen Feathers
(September), focusing on the lives of seven Indigenous young people who
died in the city of Thunder Bay between 2000-2011, award-winning
investigative journalist Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this
small northern city that has come to manifest Canada’s long struggle
with human rights violations against indigenous communities."
- b/c it's a story of what is not known - "Hunting the Northern Character
(November) not only tracks former Yukon Premier
Tony Penikett's footsteps in his hunt for a northern identity but tells
the story of an Arctic that the world does not yet know.
-b/c it is 2017 - "In My Conversations With Canadians
(September), “the book that Canada 150 needs” Lee Maracle engages with
questions that are too big to answer, but not too big to contemplate."
-b/c the essence of childhood is life itself - " JonArno Lawson, whose work includes the award-winning wordless picture book Sidewalk Flowers, playfully examines our understanding of childhood in But It’s So Silly (September)."
- b/c it looks at the importance of women's letters, diaries and writing - ie back to the top and Mercy Coles - "Sheila Johnson Kindred's Jane Austen's Transatlantic Sister
(October) is a is a rich new source for Jane Austen scholars and fans
of her fiction as well as for those interested in biography, women’s
letters, and history of the family.
- b/c I admire and read everything Helen Humphrey writes, and I also love apples, and serendipitous finds - "Helen Humphreys explores the history of the apple in North America in The Ghost Orchard (September), a fascinating journey into the secret history of an everyday food."
- b/c Neilsen Glenn's writing is always so illuminating, and again, the story is of women and their unheard voices/stories - "Poet and essayist Lorri Neilsen Glenn works to unravel issues of racism, sexism, and colonial nation-building in Following the River: Traces of the Red River Women (November), which explores her Indigenous roots and haunting family secrets."
- b/c it's a discovery of Canada - "In A Newfoundlander in Canada (October), Alan Doyle tells his story of leaving Newfoundland and discovering Canada for the first time."
- b/c, well, it is about love and the search for it - and back to the top and Mercy Coles again - "Essayist Mandy Len Catron’s debut is the collection How to Fall In Love With Anyone (June), a candid examination of what it means to love and be loved."
- both of these b/c they're both Regina and the world together -- "Ven Begamudré traces the history of both sides of his family in Extended Families: A Memoir of India (September). In The World's Most Travelled Man
(October), Mike Spencer Bown shares stories from his decades of
wandering, voyaging and trekking through every single country in the
world."

There are many more fascinating books listed here too - bring on Canadian writers and writing and Canadian stories, and yes, especially female ones.
You can follow, and join, the 49th Shelf to keep in the loop about Canadian writing - Here
You can also rate and review Miss Confederation yourself, or any of the other books too

Wednesday, 2 August 2017

My Goodreads ReviewLincoln in the Bardo is both lovely and a marvel. The history is fascinating and the presentation of it is stylistically impressive. The book is life-affirming and if you have or are suffering from grief, the story is consoling. <br />I found the history fascinating b/c I've been researching some of the Civil War for my book on Mercy Coles's diary. (Miss Confederation The Diary of Mercy Anne Coles -- the young woman who accompanied her father, George Coles, one of the PEI Fathers of Confederation, to the talks on Confederation in 1864. She and her parents travel back thru the northern US in Nov - when Lincoln was re-elected and when General Sherman started his infamous March to the Sea. So it was really interesting for me to read more of the time period and the people and places of the Civil War.)

Tuesday, 27 June 2017

First heard of the Mercy Coles Confederation diary on CBC Radio Ideas - I was researching for my novel To the Edge of the Sea and when I heard of Mercy Coles, she immediately became a character in that novel. I ordered the diary from Library and Archives Canada, read, researched wrote ... and then I began transcribing every word of Mercy's diary - and was fascinated by all she wrote. And now - here's Miss Confederation: The Diary of Mercy Anne Coles, published by Dundurn Press and out now!

The person on Ideas was Christopher Moore - and here's the lovely things he's got to say about Miss Confederation:

Monday, 19 June 2017

Library and Archives Canada has posted some great images of Prince Edward Island on their Flickr page.
Interesting to preview as Miss Confederation: The Diary of Mercy Anne Coles, published by Dundurn Press is out this week. Mercy Coles was the 26 year old unmarried daughter of the PEI Father of Confederation George Coles. She, along with 9 other unmarried daughters of the Maritime Fathers of Confederation, went to the Confederation Conference in Quebec City - Mercy kept a diary of the events, people and time. Her diary has never been published before - until now!
It was fascinating to research and I'll write more on that later.
For now, it's fun to share the images she would have been part of (or some of them) - for example, there's no doubt she would have attended the events for the visit of the Prince of Wales to Government House in 1860 Visit of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales 1860 to Charlottetown, PEI

Tuesday, 15 November 2016

I'm thrilled to announce that Miss Confederation: The Diary of Mercy
Anne Coles will be published with Dundurn Press this summer 2017 in time
for Canada's 150th anniversary!

Mercy Coles was the unmarried twenty-six year old daughter of George Coles, a
Father of Confederation from Prince Edward Island. She went with her father to
Quebec City for the talks to debate and layout the resolutions of the British
North America Act which make up the constitution which still governs Canada
today. While in Quebec and during the following tour of the Canadas, and
northern US Mercy Coles kept a diary of the men and whirlwind of social events
as they affected her and her desires.

Transcribed from the original document, the diary has never been published
before. It offers a unique view of the men and events that made Canada. The
fact that the diary has been known about for years, and yet it has never been
published, speaks volumes about what, and who, we view as important in history.

Amidst the grand and heady spectacle of the balls, banquets, and events
of the Confederation Conferences of October 1864, Mercy Coles is seeking
adventure and love. She isn’t concerned with writing for posterity, or with
propriety. Miss Confederation gives
us history as it’s being made, without the veneer and gloss time creates.

I'll post updates on Launches and Tours as they're settled. If you'd
like me to present a talk and slideshow on Mercy Coles and Confederation,
please contact me.

Tuesday, 10 May 2016

My play, Lullabies and Cautions, was chosen by Nina Lee Aquino, Artistic Director of the Factory Theatre in Toronto as one of the three featured plays for 2016 Saskatchewan Playwright Centre's Spring Festival!
It will receive a full staged reading this Friday May 13 -- but first there are 3 days of work shopping with the cast of 10, and Director Daryl Cloran, starting tomorrow -- I'm looking forward to 3 intense and fun days.
Here's a bit about the play and the festival

May 13 Doors open at 7:30; Reading 8 to 9:30 pm, followed by a talk back then some eats and a cash bar: Lullabies and Cautions by Anne McDonald (staged reading of the full play)

In Lullabies and Cautions, the character of ME, her family, and her history interconnect with John A. Macdonald, the Fathers of Confederation, and Mercy Coles, the daughter of the Prince Edward Island delegate during the 1864 Confederation conferences, Expo ’67, and 1974 during the Inquest into ME’s father’s death. Love, loss, and the responsibilities we have to each other on both a personal and public or political level are the themes explored in this play. Throughout there is song, music, adapted lullabies and nursery rhymes, dance and poetry with lots of chorus work making the whole a playful experience of a serious subject.